Third child syndrome

There is this thing that happens somewhere between the first child and the third child. You become so...uncaring, indifferent, lazy,realistic. With the first child you sterilize everything from pacifiers to shopping carts. You would never let your first child dig in the dirt (pin worms might get under their skin). Your first child wears a bib to every meal--and never goes anywhere with stains on their clothes. Is that a little dribble of pee-pee in the diaper? CHANGE IT! Never mind that the diapers are state of the art and the child does not even know... You sometimes wake the child after a time because you miss her-or to make sure she is breathing. The first child never goes barefoot and has a schedule that must be kept at all costs, the first child eats a balanced meal-no McDonald's, soda, candy...very limited cookies-all of that good stuff.

So, that was Lindsay. We now have Haley. It's a good thing she is my third child because she would not have made a very good first child. She loves mess. She loves dirt. Germs? Her best friends! Her best times have been spent digging in piles of dirt with her hair sticking up.



She goes barefoot as she climbs to the top of the fort outside. Her clothes are stained and sometimes don't match. Her hair (sparse as it is) has only been brushed a couple of times-mostly by Lindsay. Her teeth get brushed-when we think of it. She eats m&ms for a nutritious snack. She sleeps when and where I can get her to (schedule schmedule). And by this time you have learned: YOU NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY.



In between these two is the middle child. I'll leave it with this: middle child syndrome.

That time of the Year

This is the week of life that is craziest. Somehow, in 5 years of trying to have a baby we had our first: Lindsay April 7, 2000. Awww, such a great time of year to have a beautiful new baby girl to love and grow. Fast forward 16 months later when I find out (after only 1 month of trying) that we are expecting again...the due date? The same as Lindsay's only 2 years later. Jared was born April 9, 2002. How do you do that? Literally the same due date, just two days later. Amazing. And it is a miracle but I cannot believe that we managaed this.

This year, my children, being normal and getting older, asked for seperate parties. Ok, easy, right? We decided to do them in one weekend. One crazy weekend and then it's over, right? Except Jared gets sick 1 day before his party. We spent Thursday night in the ER at the Children's Hospital. He is doing better now but had fever on Saturday morning (the day of his party). So, being that I hate when people bring their sick kids around everyone elses we called everyone and postponed the party. Whew...put that one off (since I wasn't really ready anyways)

Sunday dawns bright and early and I am preparing for Lindsay's party--for which I must bake and decorate a cake (pics will be inserted here later) and get all the decorations up (some people would do this the night before, but where is the challenge in that?). Long story short the party went sooo well. I let each girl paint a terra cotta planter and fill it with soil and plant impatiens. They LOVED doing it. And they actually put a lot of effort into their painting. It was really nice. However, I did realize that Lindsay is now very much a "big girl". It's something I totally do not understand. How can 8 be so much older than 7? In my mind for whatever reason, it is.





The next Saturday, we have Jared's rescheduled party and there is a pirate cake and pirate "booty" and 10 minutes before the party is about to start I finish the treasure hunt clues/game! (Nothing like procrastination) It turned out so good! We had filled a pinata treasure chest w/ the "treasure" (candy that was bright and fun and other pirate stuff) and they had to follow clues to find it. The boys were so cute-and I was so happy that they were having fun. And my baby boy is now 6! **sniff sniff**





I keep saying this is the last party for a while (except for Haley--that wouldn't be fair to stop hers at 1 when the other kids had one every year) but who knows? I thrive on the chaos and last minute stuff of planning their birthday parties. It's a challenge but it's a fun one. It's insanity!!!! But it's our insanity!!

Top 10 Annoying mommy moments

10. You tell your child to "Stop it" and they tell you what they were doing...I already knew what you were doing, that's why I said "STOP"!!!

9. "I forgot"--enough said.

8. "Do I have to eat all of this?"

7. "So and so's parents....let him/her...got him/her..." --yeah, so what?

6. "You gave him/her more than me!!"--yup, because we love him/her more than you.

5. 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, 5 am...get it?

4. When they think a rule has changed just because I didn't remind them of every rule that morning. (I guess we're supposed to read a list to them each day)

3. When you've entertained them all day and the minute you get home you hear "Can we...?" Give me a break!

2. Company while taking care of personal business...need I say more?

And now, I'm going to totally break all the rules my English teachers taught me. I'm going to go off track here and forget about parallelism... I'm going to replace the top "Most annoying Mommy Moment" with my Number One BEST Mommy moment. When you are sad or upset and they wrap their arms around you and they love you more than anyone else--------just because you are "MOMMY". Makes all the others pale in comparison, huh?

Easter bunny??

I have a fundamental problem with the Easter bunny...ok, maybe I have several. My issues are not because of it not being the true meaning of Easter, that one is easy. I just tell my kids that the Easter bunny and candy are fun but are not the true meaning, etc...But, here are my problems:

1. Since when does a bunny lay eggs? (Shouldn't it be an easter CHICKEN??)
2. What's up with a huge bunny hopping all over (the world) and leaving baskets full of eggs w/ candy in them? (Do kids really believe this?? Or are they just afraid to rock the sugar-filled boat?)
3. How does said bunny get into the house? (Of all the things my children are deathly afraid of--shouldn't a huge bunny breaking and entering top the list?)
4. And why does it cost me so much money for the Easter bunny to visit our house?? (it's almost as much as Santa Claus--we'll talk about that one at Christmas time, that guy gets a lot of credit for money we spend too!)
5. Why does this stupid bunny leave this grass that you find until February of the next year? No matter how many times you vaccuum and sweep!? The Easter bunny is obviously MALE in gender!

Another thing...my brother brought up a good point. What does hiding eggs have to do with Jesus' resurrection? Did the people say "Here comes Jesus...quick! hide the eggs" LOL (P.S. I don't really want a history on why we hide eggs...this was just funny and made us think ;) )

This said, the kids love getting their baskets on Easter Sunday. So, I will continue to perpetuate this "fun" thing.

Then we head off to church where they hear all about the resurrection. :)

If you give a Haley a minute....

If you give a Haley a minute she's going to get on the table. If she gets on the table then she'll realize there are markers up there. While you're taking the markers away and getting her down she will find a crayon on the floor. Then, while you're taking the crayon away and putting it up high high high, she will have found out that the school cabinet is open. Inside the school cabinet she will find many many treasures (scissors, school books, a whole box of colored pencils, a box of markers...) and will realize how many things she has been missing out on. While you're picking up said treasures off the floor and under the stove she will be on to the pantry--where she has found a box of cereal that is low enough for her to get and dump on the floor. And when she is done with that (before you can get to her to stop that disaster) she'll realize that dumping and crunching the cereals into smithereens has made her thirsty...so she will find a sippy cup that is NOT spill-proof and will proceed to pour it on the floor. Now, since the cereal is still on the floor, this will make a nice mush which you can clean up with paper towels...

While you are cleaning up the mush mess she will realize...that the table is not being watched and that she can get back up on it!!!!

And that, my dear friends, is what will happen in a Haley minute. Have I read a book like this??? ;)

5 Things

You know, I got tagged by a certain someone (Angie) who wants me to do one of those blogs where you list 5 things you do for yourself, for someone close to you, and for a complete stranger...I started trying to do it but lo and behold...I do very little for myself these days. I do even less for my husband and I didn't feel I could compress the list of things I do for the kids into 5. I then decided to make it sarcastic...that didn't even work for me. So, my goal? To find 5 things to DO for myself and my hubby! So, the exercise got me thinking...was it supposed to? :)

I really am blessed in my life (despite my griping). I remember a time when I longed for toys strewn about the house. I remember a time when I would see a woman with a toddler attached to her hip and I would just cry because I was sure it would never be me. I wanted to rock a baby through the night to calm his or her fears. I was even willing to clean up throw-up and messy diapers. I just wanted to be "mom" to someone. During the hubbub of daily life as the mom of 3 I forget just how precious each moment is. I find myself putting the kids off so that I can clean, play on the computer or just sit or whatever...I hear stories of a child who has died or is kidnapped and I think "What regrets would I have if that was my child?" and I know that those regrets would be those moments that I put them off, or snap at them for something little. Something that just belongs in the category of childish irresponsibility. I don't ever want to have those regrets. Of course I pray to God that I never have a cause to sit and tearfully count the times I messed up as a mom, but maybe if we all lived like that moment was tomorrow, today would be better. We'd enjoy the ride, not just aim for the destination.

Sometimes I see my children as a destination (getting them raised is the final "resting" place-when I get to rest that is) but the truth is they're only ours for a short time and they are meant to be enjoyed as much as possible. If we have our eyes focused on the "end" we'll miss the trip. And let me tell you, it's a trip!

So, the next time my 1 year old dumps the container of crayons again...or unfolds the laundry to use the basket it's in to play in or climbs up on the computer chair and "types" I want to remember how short the time is.


The next time my 7 year old asks (for the 15th time) if her hair looks pretty, leaves her shoes at the door, spills something AGAIN or forgets to tuck the shower curtain IN before showering I want to remember to ask my self "Will this matter in 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, 5 weeks? Most of the time the answer will be "no"


The next time my 5 year old wants to comb his hair into a mowhawk or wear camouflage everything-to church, or rides his scooter down the slide I want to remember how thankful I should be that I have a little boy and that he is healthy enough to do all this crazy stuff that little boys do.


I am mom to 3 beautiful children and my house is no longer mine, nor is my time...but I have something way better than a clean house, uninterrupted sleep and quiet time. I have those 3 kids that call me "mom" and I am needed!

Blessings and timing

Tonight I went to my Bible Study figuring if all I got out of it was a break (and a good snack) that'd be enough. Lo and behold I got more! The first half (discussion) I just sat there in a zombie sort of daze (really rough day) not participating at all. Then we watched the video and there were some things that the author (Beth Moore) said that just really were great.

She was telling the story of John the Baptists coming and how his parents were old and just never had had the blessing of having a child and how when his father (Zechariah) went to do his duty in the Holy of Holies (a great honor--once in a lifetime) he was met by the angel Gabriel who announced to him that he and his wife (Elizabeth) would have a baby...Well, Zechariah wasn't quite sure about this so he was struck dumb til after the baby's birth! Now, the author gave us quite the laugh at this point by saying how w/ no words to tell anyone what had happened people might have had some funny thoughts (when he came out of the tabernacle flapping his arms trying to say he saw an angel...and how Elizabeth must've thought he sure missed her ;) ) Anyways...I digress

Her point was to tell that when we feel like "How come everyone else has [fill in the blank--children, good marriage, great career] and I don't" It just might be that God has something great in mind for us. Rather than feeling picked on or left out we should think that just maybe we are so special that He has something SUPERnatural for us.

It reminded me of the cool timing of Lindsay's coming to us. I had spent years wanting a baby (4 1/2) and then lost the only one we had managed to conceive. I sure railed at God...truly thinking He must "hate" me to do that "to me"...After going through this anger at God (I never stopped believing in Him, just was sooo mad...) I finally surrendered to Him and I went to my pastor to talk to him about how I could get past this. This was on April 11, 1999. I made my peace with God and accepted the loss was part of my life and the pastor helped me to understand that I didn't have to like it but I had to accept it (light bulb moment there). In August I went to the dr (we were still doing fertility treatments) and found out I was pregnant again. Our due date?? April 11, 2000. ( Incidentally Jared was due April 11, 2002!!!!!!)

I often forget what a blessing my children are in the crazy and mundane life that is mine. I go through the motions every day and forget that this is an eternal work I'm doing. That I'm not just feeding and clothing these children. I'm part of the future with them!

Now, this was quite the heavy email (not my norm of joking and being silly or pics) but I just needed to share this-especially with a certain person (Angie) that reads my blog and is struggling with the empty arms that are caused by infertility...Remember Friend, God has a plan for you! Hang in there and don't give up!!!!!!

I'm sure my next post will be full of complaining again and I'll "forget" in the day to day that I am blessed--not stressed. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.